ÁCCENTED

• Amanda Lee Koe & Olivier Đhénin Hữu

  Writer from Singapore, Amanda Lee Koe, and playwrite from France, Olivier Dhenin, converse with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen.ABOUT THE GUESTS:Amanda Lee Koe was born and raised in Singapore and has lived in New York, Beijing, Berlin and Bangkok. Her debut novel, Delayed Rays of a Star (Doubleday, 2019) was named a Most Anticipated Title by ELLE, Los Angeles Times, Thrillist, and USA Today, and one of NPR's Best Books of The Year. Her most recent book, Sister Snake (Ecco, 2024) was a Gold House Book Club pick, an American Bookseller’s Indie Next selection, and one of Kirkus Review’s Best Fiction Books of the Year. Amanda has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts, PEN America, the University of Iowa's International Writing Program, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, the National Arts Council of Singapore, and the Fóndation Jan Michalski. She was previously fiction editor of Esquire Singapore.Olivier Dhénin Hữu is a poet, playwright and director. Olivier Dhénin Hữu holds a master’s degree in the semiology of text and image from Paris VII and is a graduate of the Conservatoire national de région d'Amiens. He was artistic coordinator of the Théâtre du Châtelet from 2006 to 2008 and then of the National Drama Centre of Bretagne. Olivier was Resident at the Villa Medici - Académie de France in Rome in 2015, winner of the Anne Schlumberger / Fondation des Treilles writing prize in 2018, associate artist at the Scène Watteau since 2022, and now laureate of the French Institute/Villa Saïgon in 2023. His writing focuses on the poetry of language, the mute expression of actions and the silence of characters. By constructing a sensitive and lyrical literary work, centred on the passage of time and the mourning of memory, he aims to touch on the fickleness and fragility of the human being. His work is closely linked to music : several of his works have been adapted by Nicolas Bacri, Karol Beffa and Jacques Boisgallais. Paysage dans l’oubli (From on oblivion Landscape), the opera written and premiered in Saigon, is set to music by Benjamin Attahir. As stage director, he is pursuing a hybrid approach combining text and music, image and movement. In April 2025, a new play, inspired by the Saigon libretto will be premièred at Guimet national Asian Arts Museum in Paris : Partition vietnamienne (A Vietnamese Part)This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠⁠applovin.com⁠⁠.

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  1:05:16
• Steven Duong & Vivian Pham

  Emerging writers Steven Duong and Vivian Pham converse with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen. ABOUT THE GUESTS Steven Duong is the author of At The End of the World There is a Pond (W. W. Norton, 2025). His poems and short stories have appeared in publications including The American Poetry Review, The Drift, and the Yale Review, as well as The Best American Short Stories 2024, selected by Lauren Groff. The recipient of fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, Kundiman, and the University of Iowa, he is currently a creative writing fellow at Emory University. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Vivian Pham is a Vietnamese novelist, essayist, and poet from southwestern Sydney. In high school she wrote a novel called The Coconut Children, which was published in March 2020 by Penguin Random House. Vivian is the 2024 Writer-in-Residence at University of Technology, Sydney. She is a course director and key tutor for Faber Writing Academy, where she designs and teaches a year-long course on writing a novel. Vivian holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Philosophy and Creative Writing from Western Sydney University. She’s currently adapting The Coconut Children for stage with Belvoir Theatre and screen with Exit Films. This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠⁠applovin.com⁠⁠.

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  1:09:21
• Tu David Phu & Anh Luu

  Award-winning chefs Tu David Phu and Anh Luu speak with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen and Philip Nguyen. ABOUT THE GUESTS Chef Tu David Phu, recognized as a San Francisco Chronicle Rising Star Chef, is a two-time TEDx speaker, Top Chef alumnus, acclaimed cookbook author, and storyteller. Growing up in Oakland, he began his culinary journey in his mother’s apartment garden, ultimately advancing to some of the nation’s top kitchens. His path has brought him to GiGi's, a Vietnamese-inspired wine bar in San Francisco, and inspired his Emmy-nominated PBS film Bloodline. Chef Anh Luu, born and raised in the southern United States by Vietnamese immigrant parents, started her culinary journey at the age of 16, cooking in restaurants in and around New Orleans. After she and her family were displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, they moved to Portland, OR where Chef Anh attended the Western Culinary Institute and spent years honing her craft and creating new dishes by blending Vietnamese and Cajun/Creole cuisines together. Luu is formerly the chef-owner of Tapalaya, a vibrant Viet-Cajun bistro located on Portland’s bustling NE 28th Ave. Tapalaya after being open for nearly 11 years, has since permanently shuttered when Chef Anh returned to New Orleans in the spring of 2020. Her move back home was influenced by the sudden and tragic death of her mother, Tam Thi Tran, who is Chef Anh’s primary inspiration for her cooking. As of March 2023, Chef Anh has created her own company, Busy Be LLC, that specializes in private dinners, culinary consulting, and catering events with her Vietnamese street food pop up, Xanh Nola. Check out ChefAnh.com to book a private dinner! Chef Anh has earned notoriety by appearing on Food Network's Chopped, Food Network's Grill Dads, "Portland Cooks" cookbook, and went viral with her Phorrito pop ups. She most recently appeared as a hero in an episode of the Emmy award winning Nextflix show, Queer Eye.

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  1:00:33
• Khue Pham & Thi Minh Huyen Nguyen

  Writer Khue Pham and runner/writer/designer Thi Minh Huyen Nguyen converse with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen, pulitzer-prize winning author, and Philip Nguyen, Vietnamese-American studies scholar. ABOUT THE GUESTS: Khuê Phạm is an award-winning Vietnamese-German journalist and writer. A graduate of the London School of Economics, she worked for The Guardian and NPR’s Berlin bureau before becoming an editor at the weekly Die Zeit. In 2012, she co-wrote “Wir neuen Deutschen”, a non-fiction book about second-generation immigrants in Germany. Her debut novel “Brothers and Ghosts” was adapted to the stage as “Kim” and will be published this year in Britain, Australia and the US. She’s a founding member of PEN Berlin and part of this year’s jury for the International Literature Prize of the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. More at khuepham.de/english Thị Minh Huyền Nguyễn (she/her) is a writer, designer and runner working at the intersections of fashion, art, culture and sports. She is the founder of @joyruncollective. Her work appears in Vogue Germany, Daddy Magazine and Konfekt Magazine. She was part of the mediation team of the 12th Berlin Biennale and has been a contributing editor for diacritics. This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠⁠applovin.com⁠⁠.

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  50:04
• Maegan Houang & Anchuli Felicia King

  Screenwriters Maegan Houang and Anchuli Felicia King converse with hosts Viet Thanh Nguyen, pulitzer-prize winning author, and Philip Nguyen, Vietnamese-American studies scholar. ABOUT THE GUESTS: Maegan Houang is a writer/director based in Los Angeles and Michigan. She is currently a co-producer on The Sympathizer (HBO) and previously served as a story editor on Shōgun (FX) and a staff writer on Season 2 of Counterpart (Starz/MRC). She also co-wrote Jamojaya directed by Justin Chon (Blue Bayou, Gook), which premiered at Sundance, and is currently writing Nekrokosm (A24) for director Panos Cosmatos (Mandy). In 2018, she received a VSCO Voices Creator Grant to direct In Full Bloom starring Kieu Chinh (The Joy Luck Club). The short film premiered on Short of the Week and played at festivals including Fantastic Fest, Atlanta, Oak Cliff, Indie Memphis, New Orleans, LAAPFF and Sidewalk Film Festival. She recently directed two episodes of the WGA Award Winning Three Busy Debras (Adult Swim/HBO Max) Season 2. Her new short film Astonishing Little Feet starring Celia Au and Perry Yung (Warrior, The Knick) is currently on the festival circuit with screenings at the Hammer Museum, MoMA, Palm Springs ShortFest and the American Cinemateque. Maegan has also directed music videos for artists such as Mitski, Vagabon, Charly Bliss and Hana Vu. Her videos have been recognized by SXSW, Noisey, Fact Magazine, UKMVAs, Stereogum, Pitchfork, and Vimeo Staff Picks. Her work primarily focuses on the complexity of the Asian-American experience, intergenerational trauma and her own experience living as a mixed-race American. Anchuli Felicia King is a playwright, screenwriter and multidisciplinary artist of Thai-Australian descent. King’s plays have been produced by the Royal Court Theatre (London), Manhattan Theater Club (New York), Studio Theatre (Washington D.C.), American Shakespeare Center (Staunton), Melbourne Theatre Company (Melbourne), Sydney Theatre Company, National Theatre of Parramatta, Belvoir Theatre (Sydney) and La Boite Theatre (Brisbane). She is under commission with the Royal Court Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Atlantic Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company. Her play “Golden Shield” had its Off-Broadway debut at Manhattan Theatre Club in 2023. As a screenwriter, Felicia has written episodes on “The Sympathizer,” the TV adaptation of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel starring Robert Downey Jr and Sandra Oh (HBO), and “Mary and George” (AMC), a historical drama series starring Julianne Moore. She has also written episodes for "The Baby," a dark horror comedy produced by Sister Pictures for HBO/Sky, "The Twelve," a trial drama for the Foxtel Group and “Deadloch,” an Amazon original series. She has several original series in development, including projects with AMC, BBC Studios, A24, See Saw, CJ Entertainment and Warner Brothers. This episode is sponsored by AppLovin. AppLovin’s leading marketing platform provides developers a powerful set of solutions to grow their mobile apps. AppLovin’s technology platform enables developers to market, monetize, analyze and publish their apps. The company’s first-party content includes over 200+ popular, engaging apps and its technology brings that content to millions of users around the world. AppLovin is headquartered in Palo Alto, California with several offices globally. Learn more at ⁠⁠applovin.com⁠⁠.

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  49:37

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